1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to devices for carrying golf clubs. More particularly, it relates to a light-in-weight golf club-carrying device that minimizes materials and substantially reduces its weight relative to conventional golf bags.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional golf bags can hold many clubs but the bags are heavy and bulky. Most golfers do not care about the weight and bulk of conventional golf bags, however, because they ride in golf carts between holes.
Those who walk the course best enjoy the health benefits of golf, however. For those golfers, the conventional golf bag is too heavy. Most golfers seldom use all of the clubs in the bag, so the effort required to carry a conventional bag is wasted. Instead, most golfers have five or six or possibly seven favorite clubs that they use frequently to the substantial exclusion of other clubs.
What is needed, then, is a light-in-weight device for carrying five to seven golf clubs. The needed device should weigh as little as possible to encourage more golfers to walk during the game.
Golf bags of conventional construction fall over easily. Ground-penetrating spikes attachable to golf bags have been developed, but spikes are difficult or impossible to drive into the ground in hard pan and rocky terrain. Moreover, spikes don""t hold well in uneven, soft, sandy, or wet terrain.
Therefore, there exists a need for a golf club carrier that is supported in such a way that it may be positioned in substantially upstanding position in all soil conditions and on uneven terrain.
Moreover, heavy golf club bags of conventional construction can damage a green. Thus, there is a need for a golf club carrying device that is light-in-weight so that it may be placed on a green without marking or damaging the green.
However, in view of the prior art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the pertinent art how the identified needs could be fulfilled.
The long-standing but heretofore unfulfilled need for a golf club carrier of light-in-weight construction having a versatile stand means is now met by a new, useful, and nonobvious invention. The novel golf club carrier includes a central support member of elongate, straight, and rigid construction. A leg means having a bend formed mid-length thereof is formed of a flexible and resilient material such as a metal or a high-impact plastic. A pair of leg members, formed integrally with the bend, extend from opposite ends of the bend in diverging relation to one another when the leg means is in repose. A pivotal connection means pivotally connects the leg means to said central support member near a first, upper end of the central support member. The pivotal connection means that pivotally connects the leg means to the central support member is positioned at the bight of the bend formed in the leg means. The pivotal connection means is secured in position by a segment of adhesive-lined, heat shrink tubing.
A detent means is mounted in perpendicular relation to the central support member and is adapted to hold the leg members of the pair of leg members in substantially parallel relation to one another. The leg members are inherently biased to diverge from one another when retained within the detent means.
Each leg member of the pair of leg members has a length approximately equal to a length of the central support member. Accordingly, a three point support or tripod means is formed by a second, lower end of the central support member and by respective free ends of the leg members when said leg members are in repose and when said leg members are at least slightly pivoted with respect to the central support member.
An important object of this invention is to provide a golf club holder capable of carrying seven or fewer clubs.
Another important object is to provide such golf club holder in a construction that is very light-in-weight to encourage more golfers to walk during a round of golf.
Still another object is to provide a golf club carrying structure having a tripod stand with an infinite plurality of positions of adjustment.
Another object is to provide a versatile stand means that works in all soil and terrain conditions encountered in golf courses.
These and other important objects, advantages, and features of the invention will become clear as this description proceeds.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the description set forth hereinafter and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.